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DiversityInc asked readers, "What would you do if you were black and lived in Jena, La.?" Readers were split between staying or moving. Here's what they said:
(See also: Jena 6 Noose Fight: Attempted-Murder Charges Reduced and What a Noose Means to You: What Our Readers Said)
I would do everything in my power to relocate. There still remain communities, hamlets, even entire states that offer nothing to minority residents. Trying to raise a family in these environments only makes a burden much more difficult to bear. Do you for one minute think these children receive an equal education or anything equal to their white counterparts? I think any person living anywhere where opportunities are not flourishing should always be open to migration. The recent devastation in New Orleans highlighted multiple generations living in abject poverty only to have children and bring them into a community that will only produce the same result as their parents. Surrounded by the Carolinas, Atlanta, Houston—some of the most opportunity-filled communities in the entire U.S.—they remain through habit or culture or heritage in an environment that will never, can never, offer them an alternative.
—John Crowley
I would submit to the norm. Now, the question is, what's the norm? Since I grew up in the South, I think I know a little of what's the norm. The norm is constricting your actions, speech and limitations within the boundaries of the well-known demarcation between whites and blacks—something that has been instilled into blacks, as well as whites, since slavery.
—Bob Jones
I would say "move" but the ugly reality is that Jena is just more open about its racism/white supremacy than most places in the country. Aversive racism/white supremacy is the norm, and just as being immersed in water is normal to fish, being immersed in racism/white supremacy is so normal in this country that there are still those who question white privilege and who still deny the beneficial impact of generations of that privilege ... The bottom line is, in America, black lives are given even lower value than that of animals. And THAT is what "America" stands for.
—A. Ayira
I would stand up for what is right.
—Sheryl Gordon